BOK Sets Up Asset Tokenization Unit to Prepare Pilot for Tokenized Government Bonds

The Bank of Korea has created an Asset Tokenization Team under its Digital Currency Lab and started preparations for a pilot project on tokenized government bonds.

Edaily reported on Aug. 5 that the BOK set up the new unit in an organizational reshuffle carried out alongside its regular second-half personnel changes last week. The team will oversee a pilot program for government bond tokenization linked to central bank digital currency, or CBDC, infrastructure.

The BOK has been conducting experiments through Project Hangang to implement central bank money and bank deposits in the form of deposit tokens. The new team signals a broader push into asset tokenization, extending discussions to the issuance and distribution of real-world assets such as government bonds in digital token form.

The Asset Tokenization Team will work on building a Unified Ledger system that handles deposit tokens, central bank money and asset tokens on a single platform. Under the structure, deposit tokens and asset tokens would be managed on the same ledger based on central bank money, allowing remittances, clearing and settlement to be processed in a single workflow.

In the same reorganization, the North Korean Economy Research Office under the BOK's Economic Research Institute was renamed the Economic Security Office. The move appears to reflect the growing prominence of economic security issues, including trade, resources and technology, that are increasingly linked to national security.

Separately, the BOK recently created a director-level strategic meeting to respond to agenda items related to the Bank for International Settlements, the report said. It is also discussing ways to build future financial infrastructure, including deposit tokens and government bond tokenization.